I remember Mom
describing the name once to me when I was in Okinawa searching for
Granpa Higa's sister, Waniya Kobashigawa. Also, my good friend Stan
Sotsuda (who retired from the US Army, married an Okinawan lady and
raised his family there - he was the manager of the Commissary at
Camp Butler, and of course, a bowler) who helped me to locate the
Kobashigawa in Nakagusuku-son.

While there is no completely
solid definition for "Higa" ('Fija' or 'Fiija' as it is
said in Uchi-na-guchi - Okinawan Language) the characters in our last
name are made up of "Comparison" and "Praise."

Mom
and Stan both agreed that the closest definition could be, "peaceful
cooperation," or "calm negotiation" - or something to
that effect.

This uncertain definition and/or
meaning in translating Japanese to English makes sense to me since,
in my attempts to study Nihon-go, I'm finding that a great majority
of Japanese words and phrases have only literal meaning when
translated into English.

When I was traveling in and out of
Japan back in the 1980's, it was reported that the Crown Prince, (now
the current Emperor of Japan) proposed to his fiancee in English
because it was easier to say than in Japanese? Might be Urban Legend
but that's what I understood it to be.

As omoshiroi as it may
sound, modern-day Nihon-jin, nowadays, will tend to pop in an English
word in the middle of a sentence, much the same way that Hawaii
Japanese have been doing for many years. It's because the meanings of
English words or phrases have a more direct meaning than if they were
to be said in Nihongo.

Ta-to-e-ba, take the phrase, "I
Love You." In Nihon-go the phrase could be said in various ways
such as: "Suki desu," "Dai Suki Desu," "Anata
no koto was suki desu," and so forth.

So, anyway, let's stick with "Peaceful
Cooperation" or "Calm negotiation," for the meaning of
"Higa," okay?

It's too bad I never asked Mom about,
"Matsumoto." From my little knowledge of Japanese, the most
common translation would be - "Matsu = Pine Tree" and "Moto
= Foundation, origin, or base."